Washington women’s basketball coach Tina Langley announced that Dan Tacheny, Katie Faulkner and Latara King will join her on Montlake as assistant coaches. The trio comes from all corners of the United States with diverse experiences at both the collegiate and professional levels.
“I’m so excited to have Dan, Katie and Latara joining our Washington family,” said Langley. “All three are incredible people who embody everything we want our program to be about. They have a passion for developing young women, both on and off the court, and have unique and exceptional experience at the highest levels of basketball. I feel so fortunate to have such an elite group to work side-by-side with as we love and serve our student-athletes, university and the community.”
Tacheny is making his first foray into women’s college basketball after building an impressive coaching resume in multiple professional levels, including the NBA, G-League and Mexican Professional League.
Most recently, Tacheny was Associate Head Coach for the Capital City Go-Go’s, which is the Washington Wizards’ G-League team. He has also served as an assistant in the G-League with the Greensboro Swarm and Delaware 87ers.
Tacheny has worked in several roles in the NBA, including Coordinator of Player Development for the Washington Wizards and working as an advance scout and video coordinator with both the Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Tacheny, who is from Mankato, Minn. and graduated from UNLV, also has head coaching experience, amassing the highest winning percentage for a coach in the Mexican CIBACOPA with Rayos de Hermosillo.
“I’m thrilled to join Coach Langley and the UW community,” Tacheny said. “I’m so excited to get started as UW women’s basketball has a history of success, along with a great campus community and a thriving city in Seattle, which make it a very attractive place for young women to grow as athletes.
“Coach Langley is one of the best coaches in the country and a woman of incredible character. It is a great privilege to join her as she begins this new chapter here at UW.”
Faulkner, who will also serve as Recruiting Coordinator, will be moving north from Corvallis, Ore. where she has served the last five seasons at Oregon State under Scott Rueck. She has earned the reputation as one of the best assistants in America with a proven track record of developing post players, recruiting top talent, and helping players reach the WNBA. The Beavers were 118-37 with four NCAA Tournament appearances (a fifth was inevitable, if not for COVID-19 cancellations) and three trips to the Sweet 16.
On the court, she was one of the best post players in Montana basketball history, where she led the Grizzlies in scoring all four years of her career and was All-Big Sky four times. That background was instrumental her ability to nurture the development of Oregon State’s post players, including WNBA first-round pick Marie Gulich and most recently, Taylor Jones, who led the Pac-12 in rebounding during the 2021 season.
Faulkner, originally from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, will serve as the Huskies’ recruiting coordinator after helping the Beavers land a McDonald’s All-American in each of their last three classes. She has consistently helped pull in talented players from the Pacific Northwest and around the country to play for the Beavers.
“I am honored and thrilled to be joining Coach Langley and Husky Nation,” said Faulkner. “She embodies excellence and approaches education, the game, and life with absolute authentic regard. The University of Washington is an outstanding institution, and I look forward to serving our student-athletes in not only their basketball career, but in life beyond.”
King is following Langley to Washington from Rice where she served as an assistant over the last three seasons. The Owls were 72-16 in those three years, including a stellar 44-4 record in Conference USA action.
“I am extremely excited to continue working with Coach Langley and to join the University of Washington women’s basketball program,” King said. “I look forward to developing relationships both on and off the court with the women on the team.”
In King’s last season at Rice, the Owls became the first team to win three-straight C-USA regular season titles and they would go on to win the program’s first WNIT crown. She would help develop numerous All-C-USA players in her three years at Rice and earned a reputation as an outstanding recruiter and developer of talent during her stay.
Prior to joining Langley at Rice, King, who is from Coral Springs, Fla., was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Boston College. She has also served as an assistant in stops at Monmouth and Florida Memorial University – where she was a three-year starter and two-time team captain as a player – and was a graduate assistant at Florida State.
